India is fast becoming a hot-spot for international artists, and our very own band Jal seems to have climbed the bandwagon. The lip gloss sporting boys are now headed to Agra to shoot their next music video. Well, we know there’s nothing new in that piece of info but guess where the video is meant to be shot… the Taj Mahal! That’s right one of the wonder of the new world will be a setting for a song from their album. The lads said that the romantic monument is an ideal location for their shoot, and are overwhelmed by the response given to them there. Hmmm… looks like we can all look forward to yet another soulful number from Jal, who first took us and all of India by storm with their hit, ”Woh Lamhey”. There is yet to be any word on the name of the song. We’re looking forward to it and hopefully the new video will live up to the hoopla.

Islamabad got a good healthy dose of rock as Entity Paradigm, Jal, Call and many other bands performed on 13th march 2004 at the opening of the Open Air Theater in the scenic “Shakarpariyan”.

The event was organized by Dream Weaver Productions (known for the highly acclaimed murder mystery musical “8 women” performed at Al Hamra Lahore in December 2003) and the Capital Development Authority. Tickets were affordable at rupees 500 a piece.

Fans poured in to experience the glory of their best-loved bands. The event was extroverted, but sadly there were some moments of disappointment owing to lots of sound problems and technical shortcomings during the performances.

The latest wave of pop music has swept the city’s young off their feet and the sale of musical instruments, especially guitars, has risen sharply, indicated a Daily Times survey. The city’s leading instrument shops, which previously sold between 50 and 60 guitars a month, have registered a five-fold increase with sales touching 250 a month.

Music World, a shop in the heart of Tibbi City, frequented by the likes of Mehdi Hassan, Aziz Mian Qawal, Atta Ullah and Ustad Fateh Ali, has seen business pick up dramatically. Its owner, Zubair Mohammad, said that due to its location they previously only managed to sell between 20 and 30 guitars every month. However, he said that even their business had kicked off over recent years because of new channels promoting bands and singers, which impressed youngsters into buying guitars.

What is power? Who has it? How can you tell? These are questions that have no easy answers. Ask an assertive journalist, and you’ll hear a vehement dismissal of all glamour types and the list of powerful people whittling down to a stodgy industry bigwigs. Ask a starry-eyed showbiz fanatic and you’ll hear a bubbly eulogy for all the hot starlets who in reality would not even have the clout to wangle a solo project. So the dilemma remains.

Pop music is rapidly taking over the Pakistani music scene, despite the moral brigade and diktats of the clergy. “Pop, along with soft rock, is growing in popularity. It has developed in a very short span of time and shows more promise than even Indian pop music,” claims Saadia, 19, a student of business studies. Most of the songs are in Urdu set to western music. There is a lot of talent coming here. Music experts say there are about 15 established music bands and a dozen pop music stars in Pakistan today.

A far cry, all agree, from the early 1980s, when during President Zia-ul-Haq’s regime, listening to or creating pop music was aggressively discouraged. However, after the Music ‘89 show, aired on the government-owned Pakistan Television (PTV), who was also the official sponsors, things appeared to change. At the show, 30-somethings danced to the music of the then pop idols - Nazia and Zoheb Hassan, Ali Azmat and bands like the Vital Signs.

It appears as if the floodgates have been opened for foreign entertainment and news channels. The last couple of years have seen an invasion by cable channels, which can be seen wherever you go, from restaurants and homes to shops. This is all part of the phenomenon called ‘globalisation’. Pakistani viewers, noticeably, are losing interest in local channels because of the glitz and glamor of the foreign media. It is easy to see that the majority of images beaming out of television sets are of foreign films and shows. Viewers countrywide prefer Indian music, films and Hollywood flicks and this has resulted in the local channels being relegated to the background.

The album kicks off with the all time hit ‘Aadat’ spicing up the mood.Then comes ‘Ehsas’ a comparatively slow track with nice vocals by Atif seeming quite fantastic with a touch of spirituality in the lyrics.The album gains a lively mood again with the song ‘Zindagi’, as it is a fast number surely not to be missed. The lyrics are inspirational and the guitars used are fantastic. Atif has really worked hard on this track. Next comes the song I personally liked very much…and that is ‘Yaqeen’. Its a soft smooth and a truly melodious song with nice lyrics and good music composition. ‘Dil hare’ follows and makes the mood lively again. The lyrics are catchy and composition is euphonic. ‘Aadat’ comes again with a bang, maybe not with a bang because the whole album has three versions of Aadat, and it seems that the album should have been named Aadat.

While conducting a poll on the top ten Pakistani bands/soloists, I realized how ignorant of the pakistani music scene our expatriates are. For instance, the only bands they would know of were Junoon, Strings or EP…beyond that, most of them still thought that Awaz was making waves…ok, I’m exaggerating, come to think of it, our music scene has finally started making its presence felt…a far cry from just a year or two back when we were all still hooked on to the ‘I love junoon’ phase. Now, at least we have a number of bands to choose from…when you ask non-Pakistanis about which Pakistani band they like, at least some of them add strings or Ali Zafar to the necessary bout of Junoon mania. It’ll take time to get our selves established, but heck! We’ve started haven’t we? Ample proof of that is Strings contribution to the spider man movie!

jB Productions presents,
M:fesT’04..

featuring..

Jal (live question n answer session with them) , Call, Visaal, Dye Corduroy and ’special’ appearences n performances by some celebrities.

all live n unplugged
[venue] SilverStar, Fortress.
[date] 30th July,2004
[time] 7 pm

* ticket also includes a free Bowling game. One per person.
* best questions win voodootee merchandise.

for further details,

[checkout the M’fest Website]

[contact the organisers]

Jahanzaib - 0333 4237530 - jaybee_@hotmail.com
HumxA - 0300 4507357 - hopeless8@hotmail.com

Dubai is a happening city from always with many international music stars performing there
frequently.This time, our very own Pakistani bands [eP], Call, Jal (Gauhar) and Nabeel /Kamran of AaroH will be performing in Dubai on the 17th of June, 2004
at Wonderland theme park.